111856

COPY by de László

Count Albert Apponyi de Nagyappony 1933

Half-length to the left, three-quarter face, wearing white tie, evening dress, the red sash of the Imperial Order of Leopold across his chest and the Star of the Order on his coat, the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece around his neck.

Oil on canvas, 100 x 77 cm (39 ¼ x 30 ⅓ in.)

Inscribed lower right: de László / 1933 Sept

Collection of the League of Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva

The present portrait is a copy by de László of the portrait he painted of Albert Apponyi in Geneva in September 1930 [2596]. The original portrait is untraced and is known only from poor contemporary colour reproductions. The present copy closely follows the first version in the pose and dress.^[1] 

There are very few examples of de László copying his own pictures, and in those rare instances the works in question were portraits of particular significance to him: his father [10494] and mother [10492], and Lord Stanley of Alderley^[2] whose 1919 portrait he copied to keep as a memento [2763]. It seems that at the onset of his career in 1895, he made a copy of the portrait of the Queen of Bulgaria, his first royal commission, but once his fame was established, his usual practice was to request authorised copyists such as Sydney Kendrick and Frederick Cullen to make replicas on behalf of his clients.

The fact that de László himself, so late in his life, made a copy of Apponyi’s portrait, reveals the reverence the artist had for his sitter, and the importance he placed on his association with him, especially in his role at the League of Nations.

Albert Apponyi was Hungary's Chief Delegate to the League of Nations from 1923 until his death in Geneva on 7 February 1933. He was an internationally respected statesman, and to honour his memory the Hungarian Government proposed to donate the present portrait to the League of Nations, “generously offered by the celebrated artist Philip de László.”^[3] Hungary's representative, General Tánczos^[4]  was asked to convey the League's gratitude to his government and “to the eminent artist, the creator of the painting.”^[5] The portrait was exhibited in Hall B of the League of Nations Building.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [2596].

LITERATURE:

•László, Philip de, 1933-1934 diary, private collection, 4 November entry, p. 6, pasted press cutting, Pester Lloyd, 15 October 1933, about the portrait of Apponyi; 27 January 1934 entry, p. 89-90

•Apponyi, Count Albert, The Memoirs of Count Apponyi, 1935

•DLA050-0087, letter from de László to Count László Széchényi, 21 October 1933

•DLA035-0005, letter from István Bárczy de Bárcziháza to de László, 28 November 1933

•DLA162-0189, Pesti Hírlap, 12 October 1933, p. 8

•DLA162-0193, Pesti Hírlap, 12 September 1934, p. 2

We are grateful to M. Jaques Oberson, LON Archives, United Nations Library, Geneva, for his assistance, and to Dr. Gergely Sallay of the Hadtörténeti Múzeum (Museum of Military History), Budapest,  for identifying the decorations worn by the sitter.

Pd'O 2011